At CES 2021, Lausanne, Switzerland based Leman Micro Devices (LMD) announced a standalone pocket keyfob sized device that claims to deliver clinically accurate personal blood pressure measurements, as well as other vital signs, displayed on a smartphone via Bluetooth.
The device is a result of a new partnership announced this week with Shanghai Minshi, a technology device designer and producer, and Bluetooth technology company WuQi, also based in Shanghai, China. In addition to measuring blood pressure, the device provides measurements of other vital signs with medical accuracy and completely cuff-less and calibration free. These parameters are blood oxygen (Sp02), respiration rate, pulse rate, and body temperature.
The standalone Minshi key-fob incorporates LMD’s patented V-Sensor, plus a battery and a small Wuqi computer chip which links via Bluetooth to a dedicated app on a smartphone. The circular device measures 5cm in diameter by 2.5cm deep, fits neatly into the palm of the hand and can be attached to a key ring, worn around the neck or carried in a handbag.
Developed over the last nine years, the V-Sensor is a tiny module with a fingertip-shaped depression on its surface, containing a MEMS pressure sensor embedded in flexible resin. The V-Sensor also contains an optical sensor, a temperature sensor and LMD’s custom application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which conditions and digitizes the signals from the sensors and drives the LEDs and communication.
The portable, cuffless and calibration-free Minshi device measures blood pressure when pressure is gently applied to either side of the device by gently squeezing between thumb and forefinger. Following simple game-style instructions displayed by the dedicated app and pressing on the V-Sensor on the Minshi occludes the arteries in the tip of the index finger – exactly the same as the proven Riva-Rocci method used by a blood pressure cuff. The pressure on the fingertip that balances the pressure of the blood inside the artery is detected optically with the V-Sensor’s pulse oximeter and an absolute blood pressure reading is displayed on the user’s smartphone around 45 seconds later.
The Minshi keyfob sized device incorporates Leman Micro Devices’ V-Sensor which claims to provide clinically accurate measurements of blood pressure, blood oxygen, respiration rate, pulse rate and body temperature (Image: Leman Micro Devices)
The Minshi also measures contactless body temperature: the user simply brings the module slowly up to their forehead, the smartphone app pings and displays the temperature reading.
Based in Lausanne, considered the heart of ‘health valley’ and close to EPFL University, Leman Micro Devices is focused on the development of medically accurate smartphone and mobile device technology for personal healthcare. Its V-Sensor and e-Checkup-app were developed for integration into smartphones, mobile devices and wearables, enabling users to monitor their own vital signs, including blood pressure, blood oxygen level, pulse rate, temperature and respiration rate – with the same medical accuracy as doctors and clinicians.
Its V-Sensor devices are considered the third generation of wearable trackers. First generation fitness trackers measure activity (such as steps taken over time), while today’s second-generation devices measure the easier health targets such as pulse rate. The V-Sensor, LMD said, is a major step forward beyond current fitness tracker type wearable devices: unlike the latter, they are medical grade technology and provide clinically accurate results. Blood pressure is the number one health risk factor worldwide, causing over 10 million deaths per year because many people do not realize they have it, yet it is easy to treat once diagnosed. LMD’s V-Sensor needs no calibration and dispenses with any need for blood pressure measurement with home cuff devices.
Chris Elliott, co-founder of LMD, commented, “Our partnership with Shanghai Minshi and WuQi is a very exciting development which will deliver our V-Sensor into the hands of consumers during 2021, enabling them to take charge of their personal health more fully than is possible with any other wearable or fitness tracker device on the market. V-Sensor mobile devices, wearables and smartphones are the only devices in the world that can measure vital signs to clinical accuracy, and we are delighted to have two outstanding partners to deliver the first standalone Bluetooth-enabled V-Sensor product.”
Zhongwei Geng, CEO of Shanghai Minshi, added, “It’s tremendously exciting to be collaborating with Wuqi and LMD to develop this, the world’s first truly standalone miniature blood pressure and vital signs device. So easy to carry and simple to use with the dedicated app, it offers the ultimate in convenience for medically accurate, anytime, anywhere blood pressure measurement.”
>> This article was originally published on our sister site, EE Times Europe.
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